Fate Changed
by flopsie21
Summary: What would happen if Clary hadn't met the shadowhunters before Valentine came? My take on how this storyline would progress. ON HIATUS FOR SCHOOL
1. Chapter 1

I was sitting at my kitchen counter, sketching in my notebook when I was interrupted by my phone ringing. I looked at the caller I.D, it was Simon.

"Hey Simon", i said into the phone.

"Happy birthday Clary! So, how does it feel to finally be 16?"

"You know, it doesn't feel any different than yesterday other than getting cards from mom and Luke."

"Yeah but it's still a big deal! We should go out tonight to celebrate. What would you say about going to Pandemonium?"

"Yeah that sounds fun-", I start to say as mom and Luke walk in the front door, bringing in all the groceries. "Let me just check with my mom", I say to Simon. "Hey mom can I go out with Simon tonight?"

"Sure honey, just as long as you're not out too late. Did you hear that Simon?" she said coming over to speak into my phone. "I want you guys back home no later than 11."

"Sure thing Mrs. Fray. 11 it is", said Simon while laughing.

"Cool. So you'll pick me up?", I asked Simon while getting a kiss on the cheek from mom and and my hair ruffled by Luke.

"Yep. I'll text you when I'm on my way. See you later Clary".

"Bye Simon", I said as I hung up. I started to clean up my pencils and art supplies as soon as the call was over, hoping to have as much time as possible to get ready for a night out. After I had eaten, I received a text from Simon saying that he was 10 minutes away. I was opening the door to wait outside as mom called out to me.

"Clary! Before you go, can we talk for a minute? It'll be fast."

I stopped and closed the door, slowing as I walked over to the couch where she was waving me over to. "What is it mom?"

"Come and sit for a second" she said as she patted the spot next to her. I did as she asked. "Luke and I were thinking that we should go on vacation, the three of us. Just until school starts again. I just thought you should know before you go out because we'll be packing all day tomorrow, and I didn't want you to freak out over the sudden change."

I sat there for a second, frozen, thinking about what she said before I responded "why go now? We only have like, 2 weeks before school starts up again, and Luke finished all the work that needed to be done at the farm already right?"

Her smile looked forced as she said "well, yes, but I still think it's a good idea to get away for a little while. Just think," she said with forced enthusiasm, "relaxing in a quiet place with no traffic, just the three of us. You could even paint some nice landscapes out there." She sighed loudly, "I just haven't been able to get much painting done with all the distractions down here, and thought it would be better at the farmhouse".

"Ok mom," I said. "If you think it will help you paint, then I guess we could go. But I need one thing in return."

Mom's face lit up. "Anything."

"I need to be back two days before school starts so I can go to Simon and Erik's back to school party."

Mom beamed. "It's a deal." we hugged, then I stepped out the door. I only had to wait a minute before Simon's van pulled up to the curb. I hopped up into the passenger seat, and had barely even strapped in when Simon stepped on the gas.

"Wow, somebody's excited to get there."

"Sorry", Simon said while he scratched his neck. "We only have until 11, so I thought we should get there as fast as possible."

"Good thinking speed demon", I said as I sank down into my seat.

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Even though it was still fairly early by New York's standards, Pandemonium was already packed when we pulled up. As we got out of the car, we could feel the vibrations of the beat; the music was so loud. I was surprised that they haven't had any major complaints about the noise.

"I guess we better get into line before it gets any longer", said Simon, taking clary's hand and pulling her into the line with him. Pandemonium is the only nightclub that puts on a teen night, which they run once a week, which usually brings a huge swarm of rowdy kids. Getting in is always a hassle because so many other people come out, but to us it's worth the wait because it's a real nightclub, so it's always a raging party complete with music and dancing and drinks. The drinks are non-alcoholic of course, but it's alright because they're cheap enough that we can afford to go once a week, even with the cover fee. After waiting for a little while, the bouncer let us in and it was time to get our party on. We were swaying to the beat, feeling the heat from all the other people around us. Eventually it was too much for Simon, and we escaped the throng of bodies by going to the bar.

"Do you want a drink? I'll pay, my treat" Simon asked me.

I nodded and looked at the drink list. "What are you having Simon? I can't decide".

Simon grinned and replied "I'm having 'The Root of my Problems'. It's root beer mixed with chocolate ice cream. I don't think you'll like that one though".

"No I wouldn't, that sounds awful." I debated between two drinks, one called 'Sunset', which is a mix of orange juice, cranberry juice and sprite, and 'Bubble Cream', which is sprite and vanilla ice cream. I decided to get the 'Bubble Cream' so that both Simon and I would have a drink with ice cream in it. Simon and I sat at the bar and sipped our drinks while watching the other partygoers. There was always a good mix in the crowd. You can see the different groups of people keeping to themselves. The jock and cheerleader types are usually in the middle of the dance floor, mixing a good amount into each other's group. Then you have the arts kids trying to outdo each other's dance moves. There's also small clusters of groups of friends, and lastly the 'scene' kids. They're usually the easiest to pick out because of their brightly coloured hair and flashy tattoos. One small group in the 'scene' group caught my attention. They were covered nearly head to toe in dark black tattoos. The dark haired boy was chatting with the girl while the blond boy stood off to the side and just inspected the crowd. I couldn't see him very well because all the people in between us, but even from here I could tell he was good looking. He was turning my way when Simon snapped me back from my thoughts

"Earth to Clary!" said Simon waving his hand in front of my face.

"Sorry Simon, I was people watching."

Simon smiled. "That's alright. I was just wondering if you wanted to go back on the dance floor."

"Sure".

We moved our way back to where we were dancing. I looked to see if I could spot the cute blond but he had disappeared. We kept dancing for a while, enjoying each other's company and the music. It wasn't until later that I looked around and noticed the place had emptied out a bit. I looked at the time and let out a small yelp.

"Simon! It's 12:40! My mom is going to kill me! We have to leave!"

"Oh my gosh Clarry, I hadn't even noticed! Lets go!" We ran as fast as we could out of the building and into Simons van. We peeled out of the parking lot and took off down the road. The roads weren't as busy as during the day, but now the nightlife traffic was out, and it took longer than expected to get back to my house.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" Simon asked me.

"No, it's ok. It's after 1, so I'm kind of hoping my mom has fallen asleep and I can sneak past her."

"Ok. Good luck" Simon said to me as I got out.

"Bye Simon. Thanks for tonight." I closed the door as quietly as possible, hoping to not wake anyone. I tiptoed up the stairs and unlocked the door as quietly as I could, but it still wasn't enough, because whether she had been sleeping or not, mom was ready for me.

"Clarissa Fray! Where have you been?" she shouted at me. I noticed Luke standing off to the side of the room and gave him a pleading glance to get me out of this mess, but he shook his head. I sighed and looked away. "The deal was that you were to be home at 11. It's 1 am! No calls, no texts, I didn't even know where you were! What if you and Simon had crashed and were dead in a ditch? How would I know?" Her face was getting redder the longer she went on.

"I'm sorry mom. We didn't realise how late it was. I was going to call you on the way home when we were slowed down by traffic but I thought you might be sleeping and didn't want to wake you" I said with as much innocence and apology as I could put into my words.

"I worry about you you know?" she said as she enveloped me into a big hug.

I nodded into her shoulder. "I know. I'm sorry".

"I'm still not over this but it's late and we all need to get to bed" she said as she let go of me. "We'll talk about this in the morning".

"Ok", I said wiping my face for tears I hadn't felt. "Night mom, night Luke" I said as I headed to my room.

"Goodnight Clary" Luke and mom said in unison.


	2. Chapter 2

Jace was training hard, taking out his frustrations and boredom. He was drenched in sweat when Isabelle walked into the training room.

"Wow Jace, I think you need to get out and kill something before you destroy the poor training equipment".

Jace gave her a quick smirk before moving away to wipe a towel over his face. "What are you thinking? Pandemonium?"

Isabelle nodded.

"Ok. Go get Alec."

Isabelle had a huge grin on her face as she ran off.

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We arrived at Pandemonium just after 10. Not wanting to bother with cover fees and waiting in line, we used the soundless and stealth runes to sneak in. We were standing off to one side of the main floor. I was scanning the crowd for potential demons while Alec and Izzy were trying to blend into the oblivious crowd around us. I could sense someone watching me and tried to find them. Just as I spotted her, she turned away from me. She looked like a regular mundane, but I could swear that she saw me. I was still staring at her when I realised Izzy was talking to me.

"Jace! Focus. You can go off with girls later. Did you spot any demons?" Isabelle asked, with annoyance seeping into her voice.

"Hey Izzy, do we know that girl?" I said, pointing to the girl.

Alec and Izzy both turn their heads to look where I was pointing. "Can't say I do, why?"

"What does this have to do with finding demons Jace?" Alec asked, annoyed that their focus had shifted.

"I swear she looked at me, _saw me_. She can see through the veil." I looked right at Izzy to make sure she understood what I was trying to say. She quickly nodded and headed off towards the bar where the girl was sitting. She walked right in front of her. The girls eyes followed Izzy's movements for a second before returning her attention to her friend.

I turned to Alec, "did you see that? She can see us."

"I'm not so sure Jace," Alec said as Isabelle returned next to us. "And even if she can, what are we supposed to do? She obviously isn't a demon or a downworlder, and she lives a mundane life. We can't just kidnap her".

I was trying to figure out what to say when I spotted it. "Guys look, a scouter"

"Look we'll just leave the girl for now and get the demon, then we can keep an eye on her tomorrow. Sound good?"

I agreed with Izzy and we headed out. It was only a minute before the demon scout left. We followed. In an alley, it stopped and faced us.

"Shadowhunters. I should have known you would be out at the local hangout."

"Yah, real great plan there buddy. 'Let's just go to the youngest most popular place around and scout it out'" I said using air quotes. "Did you even think? Oh wait, that's right. You guys don't have thoughts do you?" I started to laugh.

"Enough" cried the demon. Other demons began to circle and close in on us. Alec notched an arrow and aimed it at the closest one. Izzy's whip slithered from her wrist to the ground and straightened into a gleaming silver staff. I pulled out my sword and whispered it's name. The demons began to attack from all sides. Alec shot one down, then took aim at another. Izzy stabbed one in the gut then turned and decapitated one creeping up behind her. Just as I took one down, another would fill it's place. Just as I turned to face it, a demon caught my legs and I tumbled to the ground. As it leaned over me, a staff tore through its body, and it crumpled to the ground. I nodded at Izzy and got back into it. Within a few minutes, we had killed all the demons, Izzy having finished off the last one.

We walked back home to the institute, having new aches and pains. I was thankful that we had found a large group of demons to fight off, giving us a break from having to think about what to do with the girl. We'll figure it out tomorrow I guess. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

The sunlight streaming through my blinds is what woke me up. I opened my eyes and immediately knew that I had woken up too early. I could hear mom and Luke moving around the house. I looked at my clock, it read 8:21 am. Yep. _Way to early_. I kicked off most of my blankets and reached for my phone. Mom must have heard me because she came in to get me up.

"Get up Clary" she said as she yanked my curtains all the way open, with _way_ too much enthusiasm I might add. "We have a few hours to pack up our stuff. Luke has to go in to the station to clear up and assign some cases, then we're on the road." She walked out the room then tossed a cardboard box into my room. "Put all of your art stuff you're bringing in here. Put all your clothes in your suitcase." She stopped and sighed. "What am I saying? You know the drill. I'll Check on you in an hour or two".

For a moment, I debated just staying in my bed, refusing to get up; mom would surely kill me if I did that. I got up and dressed, then started gathering my stuff to put in my suitcase. I may have packed a little too much, because when I went to close the bag I almost hit myself in the face when my hand slipped from the zipper. After a few minutes of struggling, huffing and puffing and red in the face, while sitting on the bag, the zipper finally cooperated and closed. I was still a little out of breath when I got a text from Simon.

 _HEY CLARY. MEET AT JAVA JONES?_

I know we have to leave soon, but what harm could come from getting a coffee? I messaged Simon back.

 _MAYBE. HOPEFULLY BE THERE SOON?!_

I grabbed my bags and headed for the door.

"Hey mom, I know we're leaving soon, but could I go with Simon to Java Jones to get a coffee?" I know as an artist and a New Yorker, there was no way my mom could deny me coffee privileges because she would be an absolute mess without hers. "I have all my stuff packed and ready by the door, and I have my phone on me".

She hesitated, then conceded.

"Yay thanks mom! I love you!" I said as I hugged her goodbye. While walking, I texted Simon.

 _ON MY WAY!_

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Simon had gotten there before me and had already ordered our drinks. We sat down at a booth and quietly sipped them.

"So how did your mom take it last night?" Simon asked, his eyebrows raising with the question.

"Actually it wasn't as bad as you might think. Well, she did flip out a little, but she was just worried you know?" I took a particularly large gulp of the delicious drink, enjoying it's warmth travel through my body.

"That's good. My mom was a little mad that I didn't text her, but she was cool with it. 'Let kids be kids' and all".

I nodded. Just as we were finishing our drinks, I got a call from mom. I stood up to leave as I answered. "Hey mom, I was just about to come back home. I'll be there in two minutes".

"NO! Clary you can't come home! Do not come home. Stay with Simon, call Luke and tell him Valentines found me ok? I love you".

I must have looked stricken because Simon was by my side in an instant. "Mom? Mom! What's going on?" She didn't answer. I hung up and tried to call her, with no answer. I grabbed my things, dialed Luke and ran out the door.

Simon quickly ran after me. "Clary wait up! What's going on?"

I didn't have time to answer as Luke answered the call. "Hey Clary. I'll be home soon. What's up?"

"Luke!" I yelled into the phone. "Something's wrong! I went to get coffee and mom called. I could hear things being smashed. She said to call you".

"Did she say anything else?" Luke asked, sounding urgent.

"She mentioned a name, Valentine I think? She said to call you and tell you Valentine found her".

I heard Luke curse before yelling things I couldn't quite make out. "Clary where are you? I'll come pick you up."

I slowed as I got to our apartments front entrance. "I'm at home".

"Clary get out of there! I'll be there in 3 minutes".

"I can't Luke," I said as I moved towards the stairs. "I have to help mom". I hung up and reached the top of the stairs, slowly edging toward the door.

"Clary stop!" whisper-shouted Simon. I forgot that he had followed me home. "We don't know who's in there".

I ignored him and pushed the door open, taking in the room. Things were knocked off the tables and walls, glass littered the floor; our stuff was thrown everywhere. I moved slowly, as if I was trying to move through quicksand. "Mom?" I called out. No answer. Simon and I had searched the house, no sign of mom when we heard the front door open. "Luke?" I said as I moved to the door. I stopped moving when I got to the front hall. It wasn't Luke.

"Well well well, who do we have here?" the man said. He was tall and strong looking, with dark black markings all over his body.

I threw the closest thing to me, which happened to be a book. It hit its mark, but didn't faze him at all. "Stay away!" I yelled at him.

"Oh, you're a feisty one aren't you?" he said walking closer. I threw the keys on the table at him, cutting his face, only to make him mad. "Well if you want to play like that". He whistled, a vicious smile breaking out on his face. A second later this dark creature appeared behind him, moving towards us. I screamed and ran. Simon was ahead of me waiting to close the bedroom door on this nightmare when it caught hold of my hair and yanked me backwards. I let out a loud yelp.

"Clary!" Simon yelled moving forward to help me as the thing threw me backwards to the floor and rushed him. It grabbed onto him as he struggled to escape its grasp. As I was getting up to try to help, the man grabbed me and held on tight, squeezing harder the more I struggled. I watched in silent horror as another person appeared out of nowhere, a glowing circle floating in the air behind him.

"Let's go" he ordered. He went back through the circle, followed by the thing taking Simon. We were about to go through when Luke burst through the front door.

"Luke!" I screamed as I was pulled away.

"Clary!" yelled Luke as he rushed towards me, but he wasn't fast enough. I was pulled through, the circle closing around us.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up thinking about the girl the night before. She had beautiful, fiery red hair. Whatever her seeing us could mean, we need to find her. _I_ need to find her, to make sure she's safe. A mundane getting mixed in our business is usually a death sentence. I got out of bed and dressed, heading down to the kitchen; hoping Isabelle hadn't started cooking. I had grabbed an apple and was making my way to Alec's room to form a plan when I heard loud voices coming from the library. I stopped to listen just as Isabelle and Alec appeared. I shushed them and waved them over to listen with me as I cracked open the door.

"He's back Hodge! He's back and he's taken Jocelyn and Clary. She doesn't even know about the shadow world. How Is she supposed to defend herself?"

"I'm sorry Luke," Hodge said pausing, "but you know as well as I that I can't leave, and the only others here are the lightwood children. I cannot put them in danger of Valentine for one former shadowhunter and her mundane daughter."

"This is ridiculous! Do you know what he'll do to Clary? This is what Jocelyn was trying to avoid! Now he has her and we have no way of saving her".

Just then, Hodge noticed us listening and strode to door. We tried to back away but ended up tripping over each other.

"Lightwoods. I would have expected better of you. Do come in if you insist on knowing of what's being said".

We walked in, only to be inspected by the man Hodge was talking with. He was tall and toned. It took me a moment to realize he's a werewolf.

"This is Luke Graymark. He's convinced Valentine has returned and taken people close to him".

"Jocelyn Fairchild, she goes by Jocelyn Fray, and her daughter Clary." he explained. "Clary called me saying Jocelyn had been attacked in their apartment. When I got there, Pangborn was taking Clary through a portal".

I stepped forward to draw his attention. "Why would Valentine take these people? It doesn't seem like something he'd do".

"Jocelyn was his wife. She left him before he went underground, secretly carrying their daughter Clary. We knew Valentine could be getting close, so we decided to leave New York until the school year started up again." He sank heavily into the chair behind him. "They were waiting for me to get home so we could leave. If I had just left earlier, I could have stopped it" he said dejectedly.

I stepped up to Luke and gave him a reassuring pat. "What can we do to help?"

"No!" Hodge roared. "Too many shadowhunters have died trying to stop Valentine. You will do no such thing".

I looked to Izzy, she shrugged, as if saying 'what can you do?'. Alec stood staring at the floor, not saying a word.

"We know Valentine travels with demons. We'll keep an eye on demonic activity and alert you if we find anything. Until then," Hodge said as Luke stood up, "we can't do much. I think it's time that our guest headed home. Jace, will you lead him out?"

I nodded for Luke to follow me. I stopped at the door when Luke pulled out a card from his pocket. "You see or hear anything, you call me. No matter what time".

"Will do".

With that, Luke walked out the door.

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We spent the day training, warding off any thoughts about Valentine's return or the missing girl. As I was sitting down to clean off my knife, Isabelle turned to me.

"What?" I asked.

"The girl at Pandemonium, do you think it was her? The one who was taken by Valentine?"

I thought about it for a second before putting it together. "She'd have to be." I started to list off the reasons. "She could see us but she didn't come to talk to us like another shadowhunter. Luke said she didn't know about the shadow world. Then, we see her, she gets taken the next day by Valentine. But how did he know where she was?"

Alec stopped firing arrows to reply "The demon. Valentine works with demons right? The one at the club must have tipped him off".

I sat there in stunned silence. "We could have saved her", I realised.

"Jace. It isn't your fault." said Izzy quietly. "From what's been said, it looks like Valentine would have found her no matter what".

"But we could have helped her." I looked back between them. "We knew she wasn't a mundane, we could have brought her here, protected her. Instead we left, and now she's being held by the most famous criminal of the clave".

"There's no point in dwelling on the past Jace", Alec said to me. "What we need to do now is figure out how we can help find Valentine and get the girl back".

"Alec's right", said Izzy. "We should search areas with high dominic activity, to see if we can find anything. And if we don't find her, then we're about to be killing a lot of demons in the process."

I silently nodded and returned to my knife. I needed to train harder and faster to be able to go after Valentine. I stood up and started to pull my blades out. The next 3 hours I spent training. Izzy and Alec had left at some point, probably to go eat. I continued to practice with my seraph blade until it was dark out. Only then could I feel as if I had gotten fast enough to try and take down Valentine. I slowly put my blades away, storing them until I needed them, and headed to the kitchen. I found a light snack, then went to bed. I need to be ready for anything that can happen. _We will save her, even if I have to do it myself,_ I thought. I slept restlessly the whole night.


	5. Chapter 5

My vision blurred. My body had the sensation of spinning wildly, making me nauseous. There was no air, I was suffocating. Then as fast as I was pulled in, I was pushed out, landing hard on the ground. As I struggled to take in air, I noticed Simon on the ground passed out. My vision was darkening, spots appearing everywhere I looked.

"Mundanes. How pathetic", came from the man who grabbed me, but I couldn't do anything as I gave in to the encroaching nothingness.

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At first, everything was nothing. Then I could feel the cold. I was trying to figure out what was going on when another bucket of cold water was tossed on me. My eyes jerked open as my body started to shake. I looked around where I was sitting; my hands and feet were tied to a chair and beside me sat Simon, tied to a chair as well. My teeth started to chatter. The one who dumped the water on me was one of the men that had taken us earlier. I looked to Simon, who was also wet, and tried to keep the tears in. I could feel my lip quivering as I faced the fact that he was here because of me. Suddenly, a third man walked into the room and stood in front of us.

"My dear Clarissa, there is nothing to fear. Put those tears away".

I stopped crying. Feeling a sudden burst of bravery, I asked "how do you know my name?"

The man shook his head and tsked. He chuckled as he said "my dear, you don't know who I am?"

I shook my head.

"Why I'm your father. Surely your mother has told you _something_ about me".

I shook my head, all the while trying to stop my teeth from chattering. "Mom said that dad was a fighter and died in the war. He never met me".

"Ah." The man said. He turned and paced slowly, taking in this information. "She always was a good liar. You see Clarissa, I was a fighter in a war, but it was a shadowhunter war, not a mundane one; I didn't die, I went underground. She was right about you never meeting me though. She left me before I knew about you, and kept you from me."

"Shadowhunter? What's that?" I asked, thinking I had heard him wrong. I looked at Simon, but he looked just as confused as me.

He turned and rushed up to me, a wild look on his face. "'What's a shadowhunter?' My child, you have been in the dark for too long. The shadowhunters are half angel warriors created to kill demons. We are the best and brightest of all the shadow world." He stopped and whistled. The dark creature from before came into the room. "You see, this is a demon. I can control them. These creatures have climbed from the depths of Hell to rule Earth. It is our job to kill them from this realm and banish them back to Hell where they came from."

I was still a little confused by what this man was saying. " _Our_ job?" I asked.

"Yes. You're a shadowhunter too Clarissa. You will help me to remove the evil from the world. Together, we can be the best shadowhunters."

"But what do you need me for?" I asked.

"You my dear, are my secret weapon. I need to get into the institute to take the mortal cup, but everyone knows my name and face. This is where you can help. Nobody knows you. They will trust you, so you can be my infiltrator and steal it for me."

"I don't know your name. We've been here for how long and you've never told me your name. You can't be _that_ famous".

He slapped my cheek, _hard_. I gaped at him. He got in my face as he said "I will not tolerate attitude." he walked over to Simon and put a knife to his throat. "You wouldn't want to be the reason your friend's life here has to be cut short, would you?"

I swallowed and shook my head.

"Good. I am Valentine Morgenstern. And _you_ Clarissa Morgenstern," he said walking back over to me, "have a lot to catch up on."

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Valentine, _I refuse to call him father_ , tried to explain how the 'shadow world' works. Basically, every tale that you could read about in a book; vampires, werewolves, fairies, witches, warlocks and all that other jazz are real. There are a few humans - mundanes - that can see through the 'veil', what stops regular people like Simon from viewing this secret world. I can see through the veil because I have shadowhunter parents. Sometimes mundanes can see the shadow world too if it chooses to show itself to them, like at the apartment for Simon. A shadowhunter has angelic blood mixed with human blood giving them special abilities, one being the ability to enhance senses and reflexes using 'runes'. You can draw these runes on your body with a 'stele'. A stele burns a dark black rune into your skin, then when it fades it becomes pale slice marks or scars. According to Valentine, shadowhunters are a dying breed. When they die, demons return to their home realm of Hell intact. When shadowhunters die, it's the same as when a human dies; they just die. This is why Valentine wants 'the mortal cup'. It's supposedly what first created shadowhunters, so he wants it to create an army to 'fight evil'. This was what caused the shadowhunter war in the first place. Valentine, mom, and other shadowhunters agreed to train to be the best, vowing to take out all evil from the world. Valentine considers 'downworlders', _pretty much everything other than shadowhunters_ , evil because they can do unnatural things, such as warlocks making 'portals', how we were transported here. The 'clave', the shadow world government, disagrees. Shadowhunters fought over the ruling; many died. This is about the time mom found out about me and fled.

 _Mom_. I forgot that she had also been taken. I turned to valentine and used as much courage as I could. "What have you done with mom? I know you have her".

"Oh don't you worry dear, she's here. I haven't done anything to her."

"I want to see her"

"Ok" Valentine said. "If you're sure you want to".

I nodded. He turned to the one who brought me here. "Pangborn, Untie her".

The guard moved from his spot at the wall to my chair and began untying the ropes. When I was finally free I winced at my wrists, rubbed raw from my pulling at the ropes. I followed Valentine into another room. It was bare, with the walls painted white. It looked like a hospital room. In the middle of the room was a bed; under the covers was my mom.

"Mom!" I cried, running to her side at the bed. She looked like she was sleeping peacefully, with even the faintest little smile on her lips. I shook her shoulders but she didn't so much as twitch. "What did you do to her?" I screamed at Valentine.

He calmly strode over to the side of the room and picked up a fancy vile. " _I_ didn't do anything to her. She did this to herself, by drinking whatever was in this vile" holding it up in the air for me to see. "Only the warlock who created it can bring her out of her dream state. Believe me, i've tried to get around that specific detail, but no warlock has succeeded yet".

I was led back into the main room where Simon was, silent tears streaming down my face. I sat back into my chair, but wasn't tied back up.

"I'll make you a deal Clarissa," said Valentine in a sweet, gentle voice. "I'll let you have Jocelyn and your friend over here back if you get me the cup. Until then, they will be mine to do what I please with. Sound like a fair trade?"

"Don't do it Clary! Don't give him what he wants. He's evil!"

I nodded. "Deal".

"Great. I'll have a portal created to get you back to New York." With that, he turned and left the room. I looked over at Simon and mouthed the words _i'm sorry_. He was shaking his head at me with a sad look in his eyes. When Valentine returned, someone else was with him. The stranger began to work his magic and created a portal in front of me. Valentine walked up behind me and whispered "You'd be best to run Clarissa".

With that he shoved me forward. Panic set in as it seemed like the portal closed around me and swallowed me whole.


	6. Chapter 6

The three of us were alternating turns monitoring the demon activity in the city. So far there had only been one or two demons in the same area at one time. It was becoming exhausting and frustrating. I decided to call Luke. He picked up on the first ring.

"Did you find them?" he asked, sounding frantic.

"Hey Luke. Not yet. There isn't very much demon activity around the city at the moment." I could hear Luke sigh, no doubt stressed and tired. Poor guy probably hasn't slept. "I was just calling to see if you had found anything."

"I haven't found anything yet. I've been asking around but no one has seen or heard anything. It's like they just fell off the face of the Earth."

I sat there silent, not knowing what to say. Usually I would come back with a witty remark, but I just didn't have it in me. "I think you should get some rest Luke." I said quietly. "If we see anything, you know I'll call you. They're going to need you when we get them back."

"I know Jace, it's just, I can't stop thinking about what he could be doing to them. There's a reason he's wanted by the clave. Hell, he controls demons. If that isn't enough to worry a shadowhunter, what is?"

I grunted my understanding and began to chew my lip. "Look, I'm next up for watch so I have to go."

"Alright. Call me if you hear anything." With that he ended the call. I stared at my blank screen wishing I could give him more; say that we had found them. Anything was better than this perpetual waiting, a lapse in time that seemed never ending.

I stared at the screen for what seemed like days, but when I checked the time, only five hours had passed. Another 3 to go. We decided 8 hour shifts were the best way to split the time, each having 8 hours to monitor the demon readings, 8 hours for training and free time and 8 hours to sleep. I was getting restless. I don't think I've ever sat so still for so long in my life. I decided that I would get up and take a walk, stretch my legs. I was moving out of the chair when a sensor went off. I was so distracted that I hadn't even noticed a large group of demons starting to form.

"Alec! Izzy! Get down here" I shouted, sticking my head into the hallway. I could hear their pounding footsteps as I went back to the monitor. The group of demons expanded branching out onto sidestreets. We would have to trap them fast, or run the risk of losing them.

"What is it?" Izzy asked, wired with newfound energy.

"There's a huge group of demons by this street here" I said, pointing to the blob on the screen. "We need to cut them off here and here to block them in. You guys ready?"

"Let's go kill some demons" said Alec, strapping his quiver to his back.

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We ran as fast as we could. When we neared the ally, Izzy split off to block the demons from the other side. We couldn't tell how many demons were here from the readings, so we put on as many runes as we thought we'd need. None of us had any blank spots left on our bodies. As we turned the corner, Alec and I ran into a few demons. We quickly took them out as quietly as we could, trying to avoid alerting the others of our presence. As we approached the main group, one demon turned and saw us. He began yelling at the others, ending with a cry as Alec's arrow became lodged in his chest. He fell to the ground, but was quickly replaced with dozens of demons appearing behind him. I raised my blade, ready to strike. The first ran forward, only to be severed from the bottom half of its body. It let out an ear splitting shriek, then abruptly died. The others seemed to share glances, then charged full force at us. I rushed into battle, metal glinting in the light as I swung my blade. The demons were dropping like flies. I could hear Alec grunting behind me, killing all the demons that moved to attack me from behind. We used our parabatai bond to know each other's movements, protecting each other. Finally, we had taken down enough demons to see Izzy on the other end fighting her own swarm. I began to look for the missing girl, hoping we had found her. Distracted, a demon caught me off guard and tackled me, its razor sharp tail ready to slice me in half. Luckily, Izzy's whip wrapped around it, pulling it off me before I rolled onto it and shoved my knife into its chest. I got up and looked around, but the girl was nowhere in sight. I roughly shoved my hand through my hair, pulling at it in frustration.

"Izzy, did you see the girl?" Alec asked.

"No. I thought you guys had found her" she said as she sighed. "I heard the demon yell. They started off in your direction but some of them turned my way, probably hoping to escape Jace's fury."

"She was never here" I said dejectedly.

"Look Jace", Alec said, coming to put a hand on my shoulder. "Just because we haven't found her yet doesn't mean we're not going to. So we didn't find her today" he said as he turned to look at his sister. "But we took a _lot_ of demons out. No good could have come from this many roaming the streets. We did good".

I slipped out of his grasp and nodded. I had started to walk back towards the institute when Isabelle stopped me.

"What, Izzy?" I said, feeling irritated.

"Give me your arm" she said, holding out her hand. I realised she was just trying to help, and obliged. She drew an _iratze,_ relieving the minor pains that I hadn't noticed. In return I did the same for her and we continued our walk home.


	7. Chapter 7

I was thrust through the portal, feeling my stomach drop, then fell onto pavement. _I am never going to get used to that_ , I thought to myself. As I was catching my breath, Valentine's voice rang through my head, _you'd be best to run Clarissa_. I had no idea what he meant until demons started to pour out of the portal. I got up, stumbling from lack of oxygen, and ran as fast as I could. After a few minutes, the demons were starting to catch up to me. I knew that Valentine could control the demons, but I don't know how much trust I'd put into them not hurting me. As I was running I saw a large castle like building ahead of me. I was running towards it when a demon caught up to me and pulled me to the ground. I screamed. My head hit the ground hard. Everything was fuzzy and sluggish, I couldn't catch up to what was happening. I tried to get up and run but the world tilted; I fell back to the ground. The demons were circling me, fighting over who could have me. I was too dizzy to run and couldn't get out of their grasps. Next thing I knew, demon bodies were dropping. One attacked me, going for my face but I used my arm as a shield. Angry, it bit down around my forearm. It's jaw was locked on me as I tried to pull away. Someone yanked the demon off of me, causing its teeth to tear through my arm. I screamed in pain and rolled over to clutch my injured arm. The bite was starting to burn, like it was on fire. Tears were streaming down my face. I opened my eyes to see three people fighting off the last of the demons. The girl finished one off then rushed to my side.

"Clary! It's Clary right?" she said

I nodded, then whimpered. She seemed to understand and took a look at my arm. I hissed in pain. Her fingers felt like ice.

"This is going to sting a bit ok?" she said, pulling out a crystal thing, _a 'stele' Valentine had called it_. She put it to my arm and started to move it in sweeping motions, almost like she was drawing. It stung, but it was nowhere near as bad as the bite. She sat back and looked relieved. I was starting to calm down when all of a sudden the bite began to burn hotter than before. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to shut out the pain.

"Jace!" I heard her yell. The two boys rushed over to us. "It's a demon bite. I tried an _iratze_ but it just disappeared and looks like it's getting worse." My arm was burning like crazy. My head was pounding loud enough to be a beat for a rager. Sweat was starting to break out on my forehead and it was getting harder to keep my eyelids open to look at the others. The boy, _Jace_ , moved closer to look at me.

"We need to get her to the institute. Now." His arms wrapped around me and the ground swayed as we moved. His body was so warm, like a nice campfire. Compared to him, my body was freezing. I took comfort in the warmth letting my eyes slip closed. "Alec," he called over his shoulder, "get Hodge and get a med bed ready". I couldn't hear the boys reply.

I was drifting away when his voice brought me back. "Clary. Keep your eyes open. Just a little bit further." I looked up at him, concern all over his face, but couldn't stay awake any longer. My eyes drooped closed, letting in the darkness.


End file.
